[Videoconferencing] Viewstation upgrade in main conference room

[Andrew Daviel]

The Polycom H323 set in the main conference room
has been upgraded from a Viewstation 128 to a Viewstation FX.

The new set is backwards-compatible with the old one in terms of 
operation and capability. It is capable of higher-bandwidth connections 
and of native multipoint. It is also capable of streaming to certain 
software (Quicktime,Cisco) though that is not currently enabled.

Native multipoint allows one to connect to up to 3 other sites without 
using the ECS bridge (which is only supposed to be used when a US lab is 
one of the participants, though AFAIK no-one actually checks).

I have also connected an inexpensive fixed-focus camera which looks at 
the screen. This is connected to the VCR input (i.e. it shows up
on the near-end camera selector as the VCR icon). It gives a
somewhat low-quality view of the projector screen - enough to tell which 
slide everyone is looking at.


-- 
Andrew Daviel, TRIUMF, Canada
Tel. +1 (604) 222-7376  (Pacific Time)
Network Security Manager